Defiance
by Ephidel
Summary: Long before the story of Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis, pieces were falling into place for their story to occur. Pieces that would later affect history in the continent of Elibe. This one is Ephidel's.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to this game

Defiance

Chapter 1

Before the story of Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis, pieces were falling into place for their story to occur. Pieces that would later affect history in the continent of Elibe...

It was dark in the forest. Ephidel leapt from tree to tree, fleeing rapidly. His right arm hanged limply from his torso, mangled and bloody. He stopped suddenly on a tree branch…

"Dammit."

A silhouette of a slim figure appeared in front of him.

"Going somewhere?"

"Snap out of it Limstella – we're friends for heaven's sake! Please!

"Friends? Don't make me laugh. Friends are worthless. And you never were _my_ friend.

A third voice came into the picture.

"Yes, that was before she became my puppet."

"Nergal… you are going to pay…" Ephidel breathed venomously.

"Heh heh heh… HAHAHAHAHAH!" Nergal tossed his head back and laughed, his voice echoing across the forest, "You are an insect railing against the heavens. You have no hope against me; the most you can do is beg for mercy and to join my legion!"

"You're insane."

"How impudent!" said Limstella, "Master, allow me to torture him before we kill him. Perhaps we could use thumbscrews or brands or…"

Ephidel wasn't listening to her – she was too far-gone and there was nothing he could do about it. The most he would be able to do would be to escape and at least save his life. He had to think of a plan _fast._

'… … … … … … … … …Damn…'

Making strategies was most definitely _not_ his strong suit. That didn't mean he wasn't intelligent – Ephidel simply didn't train his potential as a strategist. Suddenly, an idea hit him.

'Of course!'

Interrupting Limstella in her speech about torture, Ephidel turned around, dropped down from the branches, and RAN.

"Hmph. Don't think you're getting away from me that easily Ephidel!" cried Limstella.

But it was a ruse. In the canopy above, the pair of Limstella and Nergal smirked confidently as they waited for a whole minute. Then… a HUGE explosion on the outskirts of the forest overwhelmed the senses. After that, the pair disappeared from the forest and suddenly teleported in front of Ephidel. He was lying there dead or about to be. It was obvious that he was making a break for the river.

"Mines, a simple trap. Eh, Ephidel?" sneered Limstella.

Ephidel, the whole of his right body scorched, face down, stirred his head defiantly upwards at the pair.

"Shut up and get it over with."

"Limstella, do the honors," Nergal said.

"Of course, Master," she complied and looked down disgustedly at Ephidel.

Limstella drew out a tome of Elfire and quickly cast the deadly inferno. As she was drawing the flames above her head, she saw Ephidel still boldly looking up at her, yet there was something odd about his expression. She paused midway before launching the spell and kept it in suspension above her head.

"Why are you… smiling?"

"Hm? Oh, I was just remembering the first day we met."

"W-what? Urgh!" Limstella clutched her head as a painful memory clawed its way into her mind.

"Ah, those times we spent together were great," said Ephidel, tears starting to stream down his face, yet still smiling.

"Sh-shut up!" Limstella turned to Nergal.

"Do it Limstella," Nergal gravely urged.

Limstella turned back to Ephidel and finished casting Elfire, bringing it down on him. Nergal saw the blazing inferno come down upon Ephidel and the resulting blasts of dust come up.

"Hahaha… Excellent work my beautiful puppet. Let us depart at once."

"Yes… my master."

And with that, the pair teleported away.

But with her last glance back towards the fiery field, Limstella felt a drop of water tug from the corner of her eye.

"Goodbye..."

And they were gone.

But unbeknownst to her and to Nergal, only Ephidel's cloak lay upon the ground – not he.

* * *

Several hours later 

Ephidel stirred in and out of consciousness.

"Who is that fellow?"

"Look at that arm – do you think he'll ever be able to use it again?"

"Who knows? Bishop Aquel is very skilled, but it looks pretty bad."

Stirring, Ephidel let out a groan of pain.

"Are you awake?"

Ephidel's eyes shot open like lightning. He sat up quickly, but then regretted the movement.

"Don't worry, no one will be attacking you, son."

The voice of an ancient, wrinkle-bearing bishop soothed Ephidel's worry and he relaxed as he lay back down.

He was in front of a church, in an open courtyard. He was lying down on an old round table in front, which was scattered with pillows, obviously brought from inside the church.

There was quite a crowd around Ephidel.

"Nothing much happens around here, so last night's explosions and then your appearing in the river was quite extraordinary," explained Bishop Aquel, "Lucky for you that you're still alive. On anyone else who has had injuries this bad, I would have been unable to heal. You've a strong will to live, son. So, what is your name?"

"It's... Ephidel."

"Well, Ephidel, I'm called Bishop Aquel around these parts. I won't ask you how you got those injuries, but I certainly hope that they heal right; you shouldn't move too much for the rest of the day - don't use your right arm especially."

Understanding, Ephidel moved his head in a bare up and down motion.

Ephidel's mind went into rewind.

"Limstella saved me," he reflected.

When the Elfire spell sped towards him, he saw Limstella move the trajectory down by just a hair, which instead of incinerating him, it blasted him into the river.

"I don't know if she meant to or not in her current state of mind, but subconsciously perhaps, she still lives."

"Bishop Aquel!" cried a local townsperson, "It's the bandits again!"

Ephidel laughed, weakly, "Bishop Aquel, I thought nothing much happens around here..."

"Well, I meant nothing much that doesn't involve bandits happens around here."

And with that, Bishop Aquel slowly tramped over to where a bandit leader had approached.

"Hey old man! We want our cut of the take!"

"Go away! We already paid this month's tribute."

"We're doubling the amount, so hand it over!"

"We have none for the likes of you!"

"Well, then, if you won't cooperate, then we'll just take it by force. Up and at 'em boys!"

The leader stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Hearing the signal, the rest of the bandits came out and poured into the confines of the village. The entire force was simply waiting on orders from the leader.

Bishop Aquel thought out a plan while this was happening. It was simple – disable the bandit leader, and the rest would run.

Grounding himself on the dusty road, Bishop Aquel took out an even dustier tome of Light magic from within his robes.

"Light of blessed Saint Elimine – guide my hand!"

A dazzling display of magic from the old priest materialized and struck the leader of the bandits square in the chest.

"Ugh!"

The old bishop smirked seeing that he had disabled the bandit.

The entire bandit army stood on end.

"Just kidding! Haha!"

"Hey boys! I wanna kill this one first before you guys do anythin'."

Swinging back for his axe strike, the bandit rushed at the old man. Not having enough time to dodge the blow, Bishop Aquel braced himself for the blow that would likely end his life.

Roaring, the bandit lashed out at the old man.

But in a flash, the bandit's axe hit nothing but air.

-Insert dramatic music here-

Ephidel had dashed over and snatched Bishop Aquel from the reach of the axe.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?"

"You don't need to know my name – you won't live long enough to remember it."

* * *

So. What do you think? Should I continue? 


	2. Chapter 2

Yo. Lemurian Girl - go read Succession. Just the first chapter. By the time I got to chapter two I lost the "show, don't tell" schematic.

So. In the meantime, I'll just try to find a middle ground.

But... thanks for the review.

Thank you also to Manirin for reviewing.

And if anyone else reviews between the time that I write this and post this, then a subjunctive thank you to you too.

Defiance

Chapter 2

Last time...

_"Hey! Who the hell are you? -Bandit Leader-_

_"You don't need to know my name – you won't live long enough to remember it."-Ephidel-_

Ephidel plunged his hand deep within his shirt to reveal... nothing.

Wind etched tiny dust lines around his feet as he fidgeted nervously.

"That would have been much more dramatic if I had had a Fire tome."

Instantly, the bandit leader snorted with a hideous guffaw.

"That is what we call overconfidence," the bandit leader's line was broken with laughter. "Do you have any other antics to pull? Or should I just kill you?"

Ephidel cocked his head up mockingly.

"Overconfidence – that's a hard word. Four, five syllables. It must have taken a couple of months to learn a word that big."

Lowering his head, the bandit leader growled out,

"I guess that means I should just kill you then."

But Ephidel no longer paid attention to the bandit leader, as he conversed in quick, hushed tones with Bishop Aquel.

Finally losing it, the bandit bellowed out a war cry and charged.

Each stride threw dust five meters back, shrinking the distance between the bandit's axe and Ephidel's head rapidly.

But Ephidel was ready.

With one movement, he swept his left foot back in a 120-degree arc, simultaneously prying the Lightning tome out of Bishop Aquel's hand.

"Light of blessed Saint Elimine – guide my hand!"

A heavenly bolt of lightning screamed down from the heavens and with divine accuracy, struck the unwieldy axe from the bandit's hand, at the same time melting the hand.

"Aieeee!"

The bandit leader screamed a piercing tone because of the distress of his liquefied hand.

"What did you do!?"

But the moment that the lightning hit and ran so did Ephidel, who now sprinted past the bandit towards the house of a little boy named Ivan.

The thought of all the bandits, and of many readers too, was this:

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?"

**rewind**

_"I guess that means I should just kill you then."_

Ephidel, no longer paying attention to the bandit, quickly asked Bishop Aquel,

"Father, do you know of anyone who has Anima magic in this village?"

"On the North edge of town, there is an orphan named Ivan, who is currently training in Anima magic. Perhaps you can borrow his Fire tome, but how will you get past this ruffian?"

"Don't worry Father, I have a plan."

It was after this small conversation that Ephidel struck, and then took off.

But one question still lingered in Bishop Aquel's mind.

"How can that lad use Light magic?"

Meanwhile, the bandit leader howled out to his entire legion:

"FORGET THE VILLAGE, EVERY BANDIT WORTH HIS AXE, KILL THAT MAN!"

Ephidel, hearing his death sentence, only increased his pace. His head facing down, he tore through the air, but silently thanked Limstella for saving him once again.

"Haha, even after you try to kill me me, you save me..."

Long ago, when Nergal had not entered the lives of Limstella and Ephidel, the two were good friends. One piece of advice that Limstella had given him was to be unpredictable. The very next day, Ephidel informed her that he had just learned how to cast a Lightning spell, which was similar to the Anima: Thunder spell. To this she laughed and said, "Ephidel, don't tell people how you're unpredictable!"

Streets and bandits whizzing by, Ephidel found himself approaching the North side of town. Skidding to a stop, he winced in pain as a few of his bandages had opened.

"Is there anyone named Ivan living near here?"

"Go away!"

The small cry came from a corner house with a red thatched roof. Advancing towards it, Ephidel called out:

"Ivan! Listen to me! I'm going to drive these bandits away, I just need to borrow your Fire tome!"

"You're just trying to trick me into coming out!"

"Please help me! If you don't all these bandits will kill me!"

There was silence for a good 20 seconds, during which time Ephidel stood on end. Finally, he added,

"Bishop Aquel told me your name!"

Then, he heard the smooth sliding sound of a wooden beam across a metal blocking mechanism.

The door opened to reveal a young boy with dirty-looking garments. A ruby-red pigment ran splotched throughout his hair. In his hands, he held an obviously much-used Fire tome.

"Father Aquel sent you? Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Grateful, Ephidel gave a relieved smile, until he realized that the bandits were still coming after him.

"Shoot!"

Cringing, Ephidel scooped up Ivan with his injured right arm, taking the Fire tome with his other hand.

"Ahh! Put me down!"

But Ivan's protests went unheeded as Ephidel sprinted out of the village. He quickly found himself surrounded by the thick foliage of evergreens.

"Kid, is there a clearing somewhere around here?"

"Put me down and I'll tell you."

"Damnit kid, my arm hurts like hell, and I would gladly put you down, but the bandits will slaughter you - this is no time to be playing games!"

"Grr... Try going that way."

Ivan pointed eastward.

"Thank you."

Just as Ephidel dashed away, the bandits ran to the same area and caught a glimpse of him.

"There he went! That way!"

The bandits chased him into a circular expansive clearing, where they saw a little boy run off into the trees ahead.

"Run, go hide," Ephidel urged.

Ivan nodded and only peered through thick hedges and flora to see what was going on. The axe-wielders had poured into the clearing and had Ephidel blocked from the easiest route of escape – the forest area where he entered the clearing.

"We've got you now!" crowed one axe man.

Ephidel's back was turned from the crowd of brigands. A chilly wind picked up, only heightening the tension. Two heavy feet approached towards Ephidel, crushing the dry twigs and leaves underfoot.

"You! I am going to KILL YOU!"

Ephidel scoffed, just a bit.

"Heh."

"Why are you laughing?!?!" roared the chieftain, "You are about to be in so much pain, you'll beg me to finish the job!"

"You're a fool to have followed me here."

"What?"

"Not only did you fail to realize that I wasn't a specialist in Light magic, but you also gathered all your men here in one convenient location."

"What are you talking about? You're about to die!"

"No. For you see... Now I'm in my element!"

With that last word, Ephidel flipped open the Fire tome, the text inside sparking up with fiery light, radiating a sense of glowing power. Said power generated a flowing energy pulsating through Ephidel's body, all the way to his fingertips. From there, it ignited a roaring mass of semi-contained fire in the smallest possible form: a sphere. Hovering lightly above his hand for not but a second, the flame quickly expanded.

Then, he launched it.

Ivan watched from the sidelines as he watched this mysterious stranger cast fireball after fireball, ruthlessly converting the bandits into corpses. His little mouth hung open from the horror and Ivan was in shock from the odor. How could anyone do something like this?

The heat from the flames starting igniting various plants and greenery, and soon the entirety of the clearing was ablaze.

This had to end.

"STOP!!!!"

Suddenly, Ephidel looked up from his spell casting and realized that the few remaining bandits were pleading for their lives on their knees.

"What am I doing? I'm so sorry... Limstella..."

Those who were left ran, certain to never touch that village again.

Ivan ran to Ephidel, snatched his book away, and kicked him in the shins.

Ephidel didn't even respond. He couldn't feel a thing right now. While little Ivan ran back screaming murderer to the town, Ephidel collapsed from overexerting his wounded body, alongside the blackened corpses of those who were once human beings, under the sizzling brush fire that he ignited.

* * *

So, thus far, tell me your thoughts on this. I have a somewhat general direction that I'm going to be going with this, but I'm open to minor plot suggestions. 


End file.
